1. Field
One or more embodiments relate to supply of toner in an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a method of supplying toner to a developing unit in an image forming apparatus in consideration of printing quality and speed, and an image forming apparatus capable of supplying toner to a developing unit in consideration of printing quality and speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus in which a developing unit and a toner bottle are separate from each other may enter a toner supply mode to supply toner from the toner bottle to the developing unit if it is detected that toner filled in the developing unit is used up.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating operations for supplying toner to a developing unit in an image forming apparatus during printing. First, the image forming apparatus is operated in print mode (operation S100). Then, the remaining amount of toner in the developing unit is detected using a sensor (operation S110), and it is determined whether to supply toner to the developing unit (operation S120). If it is determined to supply toner, printing is suspended (operation S130), and the image forming apparatus enters a toner supply mode to supply toner from the toner bottle to the developing unit (operation S140).
However, the following problems may arise. The toner supply mode may start in the middle of printing if the sensor detects that the developing unit has used up the toner. That is, printing has to be suspended to supply toner, and thus printing quality may be lowered.
Particularly, if high-coverage images are printed, toner filled in the developing unit may be quickly used up, and thus the image forming apparatus may frequently enter the toner supply mode. This may lower the quality of printing.